Pundits have to figure out something to talk about, and when possible it is more salacious to discuss matters that are negative than those that are positive. As a result, many stories focus on declining players and the possibility of people being traded from their long time teams. Consider the twin tales of Tony Romo and Richard Sherman. Romo is dominating the news cycle because he is retiring. In fact Romo has been dominating the cycle since his rookie backup straight snatched his job following an all-too-common Romo injury. Now Romo has retired, having not found a suitable suitor in the NFL amidst a media storm of speculation.
His retirement led to the removal of Phil Simms from the CBS core broadcast booth. Not a lot of people are talking about that part. All I’ve really heard is that Simms sucked as a color commentator, though having listened to him for years I suppose I’ve been inoculated to the suck. That, or he really wasn’t that bad. Romo, a friend of Jim Nantz–his new partner, is expected to be some sort of instant upgrade. I, for the life of me, cannot figure out why that would be true. I suspect it is not true and solely intended to build anticipation for what is sure to be another newscycle–albeit a far briefer one.
So the rumor king is dead. Long live the King. In the last hour there have been two purely speculative stories posted on Sherman. In the past day there have been 17. What’s all the hub bub about? The Seahawks are willing to take offers on Sherman. This has led to questions such as, ‘is he over the hill?’ and ‘is Seattle his best fit’ and ‘are there locker room issues?’ Basically, the lack of understanding of the issue has led to so much speculation that people who need to generate football news are generating a lot of nonsense. Thanks to the Players Tribune, what Richard Sherman wants us to know about what is going on with Richard Sherman is already out there.